State of Emergency Commission | Highlights

Freezing bank accounts, requisitioning tow trucks, creating a no-go zone in downtown Ottawa: these are just a few examples of the extraordinary powers granted under the Emergency Measures Act. Was it necessary to go so far to put an end to truck convoys? This is the question that the Commission on the state of emergency tries to answer. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and seven of his ministers are due to testify this week.

(Ottawa) Left to their own devices

Anarchy reigned in the central neighborhoods of Ottawa during the three weeks of the “freedom convoy”. The first trucks arrived on January 28, with hundreds more from Western Canada following the next day. Before long, downtown residents found themselves overwhelmed. Two residents recounted how the incessant sound of horns for ten days had disturbed them. “We felt really abandoned,” said Zexi Li, who has become the figurehead of exasperated citizens. The city’s largest mall had to be closed on the first Saturday as Rideau Center employees were unable to handle the influx of protesters who refused to wear masks. This closure cost 2 million a day. Despite hundreds of complaints to the police for aggression, incivility and dangerous behavior on the part of certain demonstrators, the agents intervened little.

Bigger than expected

The organizers and the participants of the “freedom convoy” painted a contrasting portrait of their demonstration. They described a festive and safe atmosphere where solidarity reigned. Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, however, acknowledged in their testimonies that they had no control over the thousands of people present. The protest was initially aimed at scrapping the federal government’s vaccination requirement for truckers crossing the Canada-US border, but it attracted all sorts of other groups, and organizers were quickly overwhelmed by its size. Several fundraising campaigns have enabled them to raise more than 24 million. “I was blown away,” said M.^me lich. Much of the funds have been frozen by the authorities. In all, 13 organizers or participants in the “freedom convoy” were heard by the Commission, including several controversial figures such as the leader of the Farfadaas, Steeve Charland, the founder of Canada Unity, James Bauder, who had circulated a protocol of agreement to overthrow the government, and the founder of the Diagolon group, Jeremy Mackenzie.

The outdated police

For former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly, the scale of the “freedom convoy” was “unprecedented”. Despite intelligence from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) that the protesters had the means to stay for a while, Ottawa police, who were in contact with the organizers, instead expected the protest lasts only one weekend. She quickly lost control. Several witnesses described a dysfunctional and chaotic police force. The Emergency Measures Act was first seen as a solution to the crisis at a city council meeting on February 7, about a week after the protest began. The same day, the mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, sent a letter to the federal and Ontario governments asking for 1,800 additional officers. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the OPP said they were waiting for an action plan from Ottawa police on how those resources would be used, but the plan was not coming.

The great absentee

The Premier of Ontario was conspicuous by his absence during this public inquiry. Commission prosecutors subpoenaed him, but the federal court ruled that it would violate parliamentary privilege. Instead, two senior Ontario government officials testified. Doug Ford’s inaction bothered Mayor Jim Watson and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Premier of Ontario refused to participate in a tripartite federal-provincial-municipal table which he considered a waste of time. According to him, the crisis in Ottawa should rather be managed by the police. He was, however, extremely concerned about the trucks that were blocking the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor and therefore over 500 million trade a day between Canada and the United States. In a conversation with Justin Trudeau, the Ontario Prime Minister then seeks legal means to give “more tools” to the police because they are “a little shy”. On February 11, Ontario declares a state of emergency.

Fears of a 6-January

Some senior federal government officials had in mind the invasion of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 when participants of the “freedom convoy” crashed into downtown Ottawa. At the same time, other convoys of trucks were appearing elsewhere in the country. They blocked a total of six border crossings, including the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario — the busiest in the country — and Coutts, Alberta. The Department of Finance feared a negative and lasting impact on the country’s economic health, but the Canadian Security Intelligence Service did not consider the protests a threat to national security. In Ottawa, the authorities were especially worried that a “lone wolf” affiliated with a radical group would take advantage of the chaos caused by the “freedom convoy” to commit violent acts. The use of Emergency Measures Act was first mentioned on February 9 at the Privy Council Office. The order was passed five days later by the Cabinet, after a large seizure of firearms among protesters in Coutts. The police, however, felt that they had not exhausted all the tools at their disposal to put an end to the “freedom convoy”. The RCMP, the OPP and the Ottawa police had finally developed a response plan.